Google search data show Sen. Collins queries never higher t…

Search volume data from Google show that search queries involving Sen. Susan Collins have never been higher than they were on Friday.

Google’s statistics indicate that searches involving Collins peaked once Thursday evening, after dramatic hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee with appearances by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. By 10 a.m. Friday, search volumes involving Collins had reached an even higher level, and remained near that peak through the early afternoon.

Google does not reveal the actual number of searches for any topic, but its Google Trends service publishes data that indicate how the relative volume of queries changes over time.

Those statistics show that the number of searches for Collins were about 37 percent greater than the number of searches during her previous peak in popularity on the search engine, during last year’s debate to approve a sweeping tax reform bill.

The senator’s official website, at collins.senate.gov, was unavailable for several hours Thursday night and Friday morning. By midmorning Friday, service had been restored and the website was operational again.